China vows to further invest in Namibian education

Acting Chinese Ambassador Wu Wei says his country is ready to work closely with the Namibian government, non-governmental organisations and international organisations to promote the quality of education in the country.

“The Chinese government regards education as an important field for China-Namibia cooperation and has been standing by the Namibian government in its laudable efforts to improve the education quality for the Namibian nation,” said Wu.

The Namibian government attaches great importance to education.

Wu noted that the Harambee Prosperity Plan, NDP4 (National Development Plan 4) and Vision 2030 state that the future of the country is about people and the quality of education is an inseparable part of people’s well-being.

“That is why education is considered as the most important driving force for realising the objectives of those plans and wins the biggest share of the national budget every year,” added Wu.

Wu made the remarks early this week at an event where students of the University of Namibia partook in a competition aimed at promoting the Chinese language among Namibians.

“We will work together, with the help of our young friends, to do more for the youth of this country and for the China-Namibia friendship,” remarked Wu.

He said that the youth are the future hope of this country, adding that the youth are the future hope of the China-Africa friendship as well.

“The youth are the main force of the technical know-how, medical teams, agricultural experts, peacekeepers and volunteers China sends to Africa.”

There are more than 40 000 African students studying in China. And according to Wu, they are the backbone of the development of the African continent.

Furthermore, he noted that trade between China and Namibia is expanding fast. Investment from China to Namibia had grown to 4.6 billion US dollars by the end of 2015, added Wu.

“We can see the growing demand in Namibia for people who can speak Chinese. It is a great idea if you could make full use of the learning opportunities now available at your campuses to realise your future plans. I hope that one day, all of you could become friendship ambassadors for China and Namibia, with your mastery of Chinese language,” Wu told the students.